A2 Externally Set Assignment

A2 Externally Set Assignment

Edexcel GCE Art and Design Advanced Unit 4: A2 Externally Set Assignment Timed Examination: 12 hours Paper Reference 6AD04–6CC04 You do not need any other materials. Instructions to Teacher-Examiners Centres will receive this paper in January 2011. It will also be available on the secure content section of the Edexcel website at this time. This paper should be given to the teacher-examiner for confidential reference as soon as it is received in the centre in order to prepare for the externally set assignment. This paper may be released to candidates from 1 February 2011. There is no prescribed time limit for the preparatory study period. The 12 hour timed examination should be the culmination of candidates’ studies. Instructions to Candidates This paper is given to you in advance of the examination so that you can make sufficient preparation. This booklet contains the theme for the Unit 4 Externally Set Assignment for the following specifications: 9AD01 Art, Craft and Design (unendorsed) 9FA01 Fine Art 9TD01 Three-Dimensional Design 9PY01 Photography – Lens and Light-Based Media 9TE01 Textile Design 9GC01 Graphic Communication 9CC01 Critical and Contextual Studies Candidates for all endorsements are advised to read the entire paper. Turn over M37507A ©2011 Edexcel Limited. *M37507A* 5/6/6/6/4/ 37507A_GCE_Art_Design_Unit_4_Feb1 1 15/11/2010 14:20:35 Each submission for the A2 Externally Set Assignment, whether unendorsed or endorsed, should be based on the theme given in this paper. You are advised to read through the entire paper, as helpful starting points may be found outside your chosen endorsement. If you are entered for an endorsed specification, you should produce work predominantly in your chosen discipline for the Externally Set Assignment. If you are entered for the unendorsed specification, you may have been working in two or more different disciplines in Unit 3. For the Externally Set Assignment, you may choose to produce work in one discipline only. The starting points in each section will help you generate ideas. You may follow them closely, use them as background information or develop your own interpretation of the theme. Read the whole paper as any section may provide the inspiration for your focus. You should provide evidence that all of the four Assessment Objectives have been addressed. It is anticipated that A2 candidates will show in the Externally Set Assignment how their knowledge, skills and understanding have developed through their work in Unit 3. The Assessment Objectives require you to: Develop your ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. Experiment with and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining your ideas as your work develops. Record in visual and/or other forms ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions, demonstrating your ability to reflect on your work and progress. Present a personal, informed and meaningful response demonstrating critical understanding, realising intentions and, where appropriate, making connections between visual, oral or other elements. 2 M37507A 37507A_GCE_Art_Design_Unit_4_Feb2 2 15/11/2010 14:20:35 Preparatory Studies Your preparatory studies may include sketchbooks, notebooks, worksheets, design sheets, large-scale rough studies, samples, swatches, test pieces, maquettes, digital material… everything that fully shows your progress towards your outcomes. Preparatory studies should show: • your development of a personal focus based on the theme • a synthesis of ideas • evidence of your development and control of visual language skills • critical review and reflection, recording your thoughts, decisions and development of ideas • a breadth and depth of your research from appropriate primary and contextual sources • relevant selection with visual and/or written analyses rather than descriptive copying or listing processes. Timed Examination Your preparatory studies will be used to produce an outcome(s) under examination conditions in twelve hours. 3 M37507A Turn over 37507A_GCE_Art_Design_Unit_4_Feb3 3 15/11/2010 14:20:36 The Theme: Exploration and Discovery Artists in the 16th century were often required to create illustrations of exotic foreign creatures from their descriptions alone, as recounted by the explorers who had actual experience of them. Fantastic illustrations of rhinoceros, giraffe and elephant were reconstructed from the emotive observations of the travellers. Albrecht Durer’s engraving of a rhinoceros is one of many classic examples of this. Holidays, social events, visiting distant relatives, sports fixtures, gallery and museum trips and new friends bombard our senses with fresh visual information. A simple motorway journey can whisk you through major contrasts in architecture and landscape, especially in Great Britain where changes occur over relatively short distances. Exploration into the microscopic world beneath our feet can transport us to an alien environment of fantastic organisms with endless shapes and forms. A tiny drop of stagnant water from any city gutter will often contain a multitude of strange creatures. Dissection of the human body reveals the incredible complexity of its mechanics and systems. Dr Gunther von Hagen’s Bodyworlds exhibition displays this fragile beauty. Deserted buildings, castles and industrial sites can trigger powerful emotions. The scars and traces on the fabric of the structures provide testimony to the bustle and energy of the former inhabitants and tangible evidence of their existence. As you run your fingers over the ancient graffiti, worn banisters, fragments of posters and abandoned tools your imagination can create vivid pictures of the lives of past occupants. Time spent chatting to elderly relatives can mentally transfer you to distant and lost worlds and give great insight into their treasured possessions. The significance of these artefacts prior to the discussion may have been a complete mystery. The tarnished medals and trophies, chrome teasmades, vinyl albums and valve radios provide a physical record of that person’s unique history. Discovering and reading a new book can create accurate pictures of entire communities, environments and individuals in your imagination. It is interesting to see how the film version of a book often creates a feeling of disappointment. This may be because it is the director’s visualisation of characters and places rather than your own. Here are some suggestions generated by the theme that may inspire your journey: • Climbing, caving, bird-watching, canoeing, gliding, hiking • Experiments, dissection, dismantling, deconstructing • Exotic food, music, literature • Rock pools, areas underneath stones, dead wood and metal sheets • Zoological gardens, theme parks, fun fairs, museums, libraries • Scrap-yards, exposed rock strata • Derelict gardens, cemeteries • Official trips to coal and slate mines • Snorkelling and metal detecting • Magnifying lenses, telescopes, binoculars 4 M37507A 37507A_GCE_Art_Design_Unit_4_Feb4 4 15/11/2010 14:20:36 Fine Art Optional disciplines: • Painting and drawing • Printmaking • Sculpture • Alternative media Optional starting points: • The exploration and discovery of the self has been a constant theme in modern art. Surrealists, such as Delvaux, De Chirico and Ernst, relied heavily on the psychological speculations of Sigmund Freud, who sought to uncover the mysteries of the unconscious. Kandinsky aspired to unlock ‘the spiritual’ in art by developing ways of working that were not directed by rational thought, proceeding instead from his ‘inner self’. More recently, Jenny Saville’s work is a self-conscious exploration of her own persona. • 17th century Dutch artists celebrated national triumphs of commerce and conquest achieved through naval exploration and navigational exploits. These ideas were shown in art in the form of maps, exotic fabrics, costumes and foodstuffs. At the same time, Dutch scientists expanded their knowledge of optical instruments, and their work had repercussions on some of the ways in which artists worked. For instance, Vermeer, who is known to have used a camera obscura for his paintings, was a neighbour of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the ‘father of microbiology’. Vermeer’s paintings The Geographer and The Astronomer are believed to be portraits of Leeuwenhoek. Contemporary artist Steven N Meyers uses x-rays to produce remarkable images of the delicate structures of plants and flowers. • Pop art and Op art were breakthroughs in discovering and exploring non-traditional subjects and styles. They were seen as new and shocking. They made people see things differently, and they overturned previous artistic values. Bridget Riley explores optical themes. Peter Blake celebrates ordinary life and popular culture. Such subjects would have been considered unsuitable for ‘high art’ in earlier times. • Art is often concerned with exploring and discovering the properties of materials and the potential of techniques. In former times, traditions in the use of tools and media were passed on from teachers to pupils, but now the explosion of modern media and techniques (such as acrylic paint and fibreglass casting) coupled with the breakdown of traditions and the growth of individualism, have enabled artists to use materials in previously unimagined ways. Caro’s sculptures could be thought of as structural experiments and Rauschenberg’s combinations of found

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